Valuation, Burn Rate & Pipeline: The VC Math Every Founder Should Know
Mike, Ben, and Jacob swap the back-of-the-napkin calculations they rely on when evaluating startups, from market size and valuation multiples to sales pipelines, burn rates, and runway. Along the way, they challenge each other's assumptions, share where those quick calculations can go wrong, and explain why venture investing is just as much about asking the right questions as it is crunching the numbers.
The conversation also explores the softer side of diligence: why founders earn credibility by showing their work instead of polishing every metric, how repeatable sales matter more than flashy growth projections, and why today's AI costs create a whole new set of investment questions. Equal parts practical framework and friendly debate, this episode offers founders and investors an inside look at how venture capitalists think before they ever build the spreadsheet.
Key Topics
• Market sizing and estimating venture-scale exit potential
• Why post-money ownership matters more than pre-money valuation
• Understanding dilution from SAFEs, convertible notes, and option pools
• Burn rate, runway, and raising enough capital to reach meaningful milestones
• Trust-building signals founders can provide during diligence
• How AI infrastructure costs and technical decisions impact future scalability
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Mike Kelly
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Ben Pidgeon
Jacob Schpok